February 2024 

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: 

Challenges in Implementing Biosecurity Practices for 

Commercial Turkey and Table Egg Producers 

INTRODUCTION 

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is a serious disease that is highly contagious and often fatal to 

chickens and turkeys. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) conducted two studies to investigate potential risk factors for introducing the HPAI virus onto 

farms in 2022. One study focused on commercial turkey farms raising meat turkeys. The other study focused 

on commercial table egg farms, including breeders, pullet farms, and table egg layer farms. For the turkey 

study, 125 farms from 12 states participated. Case turkey farms were confirmed positive for HPAI between 

January and October 2022. For the table egg study, 40 farms from 8 states participated. Case table egg 

farms were confirmed positive for HPAI between February and September 2022. For both studies, control 

farms were selected from the same states as case farms, but controls did not have HPAI during the same 

period (Figure 1). 

Figure 1. States that Participated in the Turkey and Table Egg Studies 

Participants:

Turkey 

Table Egg 

Both 

WA 

OR 

CA 

MT 

ID 

NV 

AZ 

UT 

WY 

CO 

NM 

TX 

OK 

KS 

NE 

SD 

ND 

MN 

IA 

MO 

AR 

LA 

MS AL GA 

FL 

SC 

TN 

NC 

IL 

WI 

MI 

OH 

IN 

KY 

WV VA 

PA 

NY 

ME 

VT 

NH 

NJ 

MD DE

Washington D.C

MA 

CT 

RI 

. 

APHIS previously reported risk factors for HPAI introduction on to commercial turkey farms and table egg 

farms, based on the findings of these studies. This report presents the results of producer-provided 

information on biosecurity challenges related to feed, personnel, and equipment. The purpose of the 

report is to provide a national view of these challenges, to increase awareness of the issues on a national 

level, and possibly identify areas to focus biosecurity improvements to reduce potential HPAI risk on 

commercial farms. 

To better understand industry perspectives on areas of biosecurity that may be difficult to implement, 

both studies asked participants how challenging it is for producers to achieve various biosecurity items 

(not at all, slightly, somewhat, quite, or extremely challenging). The infographics in Figures 2–7 present the 

combined results for all participating turkey and table egg farms (cases and controls). Due to small 

sample sizes in some of the response categories, the "quite" and "extremely” challenging levels were 

combined in the analysis. In the following graphs, the numbers may not add up to 100 due to rounding. 

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TURKEY PRODUCER BIOSECURITY CHALLENGES 

Figure 2. Feed Biosecurity Challenges for Turkey Farms 

Summary of Figure 2: 

 Slightly more than one-fifth of

respondents reported that

keeping feed safe from rodents

was “somewhat” to “extremely”

challenging (21.7%).

 Very few respondents said

keeping feed safe from wildlife

was “quite” or “extremely”

challenging (1.6%).

 More respondents reported that

keeping feed safe from wildlife was

“not at all” challenging (71.8%)

compared to respondents who

reported keeping feed safe from

rodents was “not at all” challenging

(54.0%).

Figure 3. Personnel and General Biosecurity Challenges for Turkey Farms 

Summary of Figure 3: 

 A little over half of the turkey study

respondents reported that hiring new personnel

was “quite” or “extremely” challenging (54.5%).

 Almost one-third reported that retaining trained

personnel was “quite” or “extremely”

challenging (31.4%).

 Fewer respondents indicated that

communicating the importance of biosecurity to

personnel (19.0%) or enforcing daily

biosecurity measures (15.7%) were “quite” or

“extremely” challenging.

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 TABLE EGG PRODUCER BIOSECURITY CHALLENGES 

Figure 5. Feed Biosecurity Challenges for Table Egg Farms 

Summary of Figure 5: 

 One-quarter of the commercial table

egg study respondents reported that

keeping feed safe from rodents was

“quite” or “extremely” challenging

(25.0%).

 None of the respondents reported

keeping feed safe from wildlife was

“quite” or “extremely” challenging.

 More respondents reported that

keeping feed safe from wildlife was “not

at all” challenging (47.5%) compared to

respondents who reported keeping feed

safe from rodents was “not at all”

challenging (25.0%).

Figure 4. Vehicle and Small Equipment Biosecurity Challenges for 

Turkey Farms 

Summary of Figure 4: 

 More respondents reported that keeping

shared small equipment cleaned and

disinfected was “not at all” challenging

(71.8%) compared to respondents who

reported keeping shared vehicles

cleaned and disinfected was “not at all”

challenging (55.1%).

 Only a small percentage of study

participants reported that keeping shared

vehicles (12.7%) and keeping shared

small equipment cleaned and disinfected

were “quite” or “extremely” challenging

(12.0%).

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Figure 6. Personnel and General Biosecurity Challenges for Table Egg Farms 

Summary of Figure 6: 

 Slightly more than half of all table egg study

participants reported hiring new personnel was

“quite” to “extremely” challenging (52.5%).

 Only a small percentage of participants

reported retaining trained personnel was “quite”

or “extremely” challenging (15.0%).

 Only a small percentage of table egg study

participants indicated that communicating the

importance of biosecurity to personnel was

“quite” or “extremely” challenging (10.0%).

 However, about twice as many reported that

enforcing daily biosecurity measures was

“quite” or “extremely” challenging (22.5%).

Figure 7. Vehicle and Small Equipment Biosecurity Challenges for Table 

Egg Farms 

Summary of Figure 7: 

 About one-third of table egg study

respondents reported that keeping shared

vehicles cleaned and disinfected was “not at

all” challenging (32.5%).

 More than half of table egg study

participants reported that keeping shared

vehicles cleaned and disinfected was

“slightly” to “somewhat” challenging (55.0%).

 Almost half of the participants reported that

keeping shared small equipment cleaned

and disinfected was “not at all” challenging

(42.5%).

 Only a small percentage of respondents

said that keeping shared vehicles (12.5%) or

keeping shared small equipment cleaned

and disinfected (15.0%) were “quite” or

“extremely” challenging.

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BIOSECURITY CONSIDERATIONS TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES 

Considering the risk factors identified in the case-control studies and the biosecurity challenges reported by 

producers as described above, here are a few science-based actions to implement on-farm. The results of 

these studies may also be used by industry to help support and address the most frequently reported 

challenges that producers identified on their farms. 

Keep feed safe from rodents 

and wildlife to prevent the 

transmission of avian 

influenza and other diseases. 

Require personnel to change 

clothing (including shoes) before 

moving to a different barn. 

Assign farm workers to specific 

barns when possible. 

Clean and disinfect shared 

vehicles and equipment to 

avoid transferring virus that 

can cause disease. 

RESOURCES 

To see infographics regarding this study, please visit USDA APHIS | Highly Pathogenic 

Avian Influenza (HPAI) or scan the QR code and look under Resources for Producers. 

Green, A. L., Branan, M. A., Fields, V., Patyk, K. A., Kolar, S. K., Beam, A., Marshall, K. L., McGuigan, R. 

E., Vuolo, M., Freifeld, A.,Torchetti, M. K., Lantz, K., & Delgado, A. H. (2023). Investigation of risk factors 

for introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus onto table egg farms in the United States, 

2022: a case–control study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1229008 

Patyk, K. A., Fields, V., Beam, A., Branan, M. A., McGuigan, R., Green, A., Torchetti, M. K., Lantz, K., 

Freifeld, A., Marshall, K. L., & Delgado, A. H. (2023). Investigation of risk factors for introduction of highly 

pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 infection among commercial turkey operations in the United States, 2022: 

a case-control study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1229071 

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